April 3 will always ring a bell in the phone industry.
Exactly 50 years ago, Motorola engineer Marty Cooper made the first ever cellphone call. Walking through the New York City streets, Cooper pulled out his 2.5-pound Motorola "brick" phone and let a rival know that he was part of history.
"Who should I call? And then it occurred to me I would call my counterpart at the Bell System," Cooper said on "TODAY," referring to Joel Engel.
"And I said, 'Joel, I'm calling you on a cellphone. A real cellphone. A hand-held, personal, portable cellphone.' You could tell that I was not averse to rubbing it in."
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
It took 10 more years for Cooper and Motorola to release the DynaTAC commercially. At a price point of around $4,000, it was initially a luxury for the rich.
As cell phones got smaller, so did the price tag. Popularity, on the other hand, continues to skyrocket.
In Cooper's eyes, the possibilities are endless, particularly in the education and healthcare fields.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"Most of what you do is social media, texting, talking on the phone," he said. "The future of the cellphone is much more complicated, much more bright than that."
